# "How Did We Become Bitter Political Enemies?"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-become-bitter-political-enemies/789112>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [June 16, 2017, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-become-bitter-political-enemies/789112 "2017-06-16T13:23:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 469

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**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-become-bitter-political-enemies/789112/469 "2017-06-21T13:28:32Z")

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> [@k9bfriender](#):
>
> You don’t need to wonder, actually. It is in fact attitudes like that that frustrate those who are trying to engage in open and honest communication. At a certain point, after enough attempts at communicating, and receiving whatever that was in your post in return, we realize it isn’t worth it to keep the lines open. It’s not worth it to keep trying to negotiate, when you refuse to negotiate in good faith.
> 
> And, if there are no lines of communication, and no negotiation possible, then you are no longer an opposition to work with, you are now an enemy that must be defeated.
> 
> Do you not see that this attitude that you display is exactly the cause of the bitterness and the divide? Do you not care that it is the actions of yourself and those who act in a similar fashion that are driving the country apart?
> 
> Or do you do know, and you do care, but it is your goal?

Quote, um, me, from after the election:

> [@Trump Supporters are Flawed People](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-supporters-are-flawed-people/771345/136):
>
> Question.
> 
> Why do you think I haven’t been listening?
> 
> I have been listening. I spent the better part of a year on a forum which, while reasonably bipartisan, held a _ton_ of Trump supporters. I had a close friend who ran a skype group I am no longer a part of who supported Trump. My grandmother supports Trump.
> 
> I have gone _out of my way_ to interact with people who think Trump was a good choice and try to suss out why. You know what I heard most commonly? Something along the lines of “Clinton is a felon”. Sometimes of the “she murdered 4 people in Benghazi” flavor, sometimes of the “Clinton body count” flavor, sometimes of the “she sold our secrets to China” variety. Occasionally I heard “Trump will make America great again”, followed by crickets when I asked for details. Often, it’s just outright racism. The honest, sad truth is that most of these people were _conned_.
> 
> Have you ever listened to talk radio? Ever spent time listening to Hannity or Limbaugh’s _insane_ bloviations? 13 million fucking people listen to Rush Limbaugh each week. 13. _Million_. How do you reach someone who hears that disgusting moron talk about how awful it is that everything hinges on consent these days and thinks, “Yeah, that sounds about right”?
> 
> These are people whose view of reality has been utterly warped by a steady stream of right-wing propaganda and fearmongering. The fact that it’s “different from my reality” doesn’t make it a fantasy; the fact that it’s a reality in which Donald Trump is a solid pick for President of the United States of America makes it a fantasy. Please stop making excuses.

I can cosign this pretty hard.

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